It’s good to be #1: GameLoft talks iPhone gaming

With more than 200 million games sold, GameLoft is no stranger to developing …

GameLoft has developed games for virtually every platform out there, but the company is perhaps best known for its work in the mobile space. And with more than 200 million games sold across all platforms, and 300 different ones available total, the developer has set its sites on the iPhone. Recently, GameLoft revealed that Apple had become its number one customer, with 28 games available on the platform. We spoke to Gonzague de Vallois, GameLoft's Senior VP of Publishing, about what the company has learned from its success on Apple's ubiquitous mobile phone.

One of the biggest hurdles with any new platform is getting comfortable with developing for it; with all of the unique features of the iPhone, the platform is certainly no exception. Because of this, the majority of GameLoft's early iPhone titles were ports of games on other systems.

"I think with any new platform we have experienced an initial learning phase where we are porting existing games in order to limit the risk on a project and become familiar with the ins and outs of what a platform can handle," Vallois told Ars. A big part of this was coming to grips with the touch screen and accelerometer on the iPhone. Similar to what happened with the Nintendo DS, many developers simply use these features because they are there, instead of properly integrating them into the game.

"After studying the games that have done well on the App store, we are more precise in where we incorporate accelerometer and touch, rather that putting it in just because," Vallois explained.

But getting your game noticed can often be more difficult than actually creating it. There are so many games on the App store that reaching customers can be an onerous task. "What has worked for us is a strong PR drive," Vallois told Ars. This includes aggressively marketing games prior to launch via early previews and screen leaks. But word of mouth also plays a strong role. "Once the game launches, it relies heavily on quality and user feedback. When user comments are abundant and positive, the sales drive itself."

As with all digital distribution platforms for games, developers have been experimenting with price on the App Store, trying to figure out what works. When it comes to small, downloadable games, price often wins out over quality. "The price point is very important," Vallois explained. "We have found that $7.99 to $9.99 are the max price points for premium titles. Anything more than that you run the risk of reduced sale volumes because people are not yet willing to pay that much for a game."

Of course, of the 28 titles that GameLoft has brought to the iPhone, not every one began its life with Apple's phone in mind. In fact, a large number are ports from other platforms, especially mobile phones. But while they may be based on other games, it actually takes a lot of work to properly port a title to the iPhone.

Take, for example, Asphalt Elite Racing. "The game was originally released on traditional cell phones at a size of 600KB," said Vallois. "The iPhone version is about 70MB. That's a brand new game." This upgrade included updating the visuals, adding new levels, and creating a control scheme that took advantage of the platform's unique abilities. "It sounds simple enough, but this brings a lot more added value for the gamer."

With upwards of 4,000 games available, it's clear that the iPhone is quickly becoming a mobile gaming powerhouse. Having a large number of games available certainly helps, but according to Vallois there is another factor to GameLoft's success. "The key component to whether a game does well simply boils down to quality."